Brewer of beer, slayer of the kitchen, bass shredder, music lover, film freak; these are a few of my favorite things!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Day 2: First Annual Portland Fruit Beer Festival!!

Well, I'm a glutton for punishment, er I mean enjoyment, so I returned to PDX's Fruit Beer Festival for the last few hours of day two! Most of the beers on tap were 2 tickets, and from the "rare rotating taplist", although there were quite a few California & international beers added to the roster that weren't on the list Saturday. Here's the rundown:

6. Fruli. Strawberry beer from Beligium. Heavy on the strawberries, maybe a little too fruity for my taste, but still a very tasty beer. A little bitterness and citrus balance out the flavors nicely.

5. Bison Brewing Belgian Orange Marmalade. Part of their beer of the month series, this Belgian Tripel was made with organic naval orange marmalade instead of Belgian candy sugar. The marmalade came from an organic farm in Brentwood, CA. Very tasting brew from this Berkeley, CA brewery.

4. Burnside Brewing Co Sweet Heat. A wheat ale brewed with apricot puree, and then dry hopped with scotch bonnets. Fruity upfront, but definitely has a spicy habanero-like blast afterwards. Still feeling that one today! One of the most interesting beers I tasted at the festival, this one is a year round beer at Burnside Brewing Co.

3. Upright Brewing Gin Barrel-Aged Four with Strawberries. Upright's #4 aged with Oregon strawberry puree in a Ransom Distillery Old Tom Gin barrel. Very interesting, tasty brew, the fruit was there, but not overpowering and mellowed the flavors of the gin barrel.

2. Burnside Brewing Co. Marionberry barrel-aged Berliner-Weisse. A slightly tart wheat beer with a mild fruitiness. Fermented with a lactic bacteria in addition to the German ale yeast resulting in a slightly sour finish. One French oak barrel of this was made, aged with the marionberries. Yum, I had the gooseberry version of this Saturday, which I think I liked better, but this one was pretty damn good too.

1. Block 15: 2010 La Ferme' de Demons (the Demon's Farm). Black farmhouse ale aged for over 8 months in three barrel types; Pinot Noir, Oregon Oak, and Bourbon with Brettanomyces. After barrel aging and blending, this dark ruby black ale is further matured with a touch of Oregon tart cherry. In the words of Block 15, a demonic brew to quench only the most sinister thirst. This beer was amazing, I definitely agree it is a demonic brew and my number 1 from Day 2!

I'll definitely be hitting the festival next year, my friend Lee and I were there to the end. Afterward, we decided to grab a booth inside Burnside Brewing Co.'s pub for a bite to eat and some of their IPA and some more Sweet Heat. Always nice to find a brewpub with good quality food. Like I said, I'm a glutton....